30 Day Song Challenge #1: Your Favourite Song

Inspired by the always excellent Buried By The Buzz, I’ve decided to undertake the 30 Day Song Challenge, a program that is taking the Facebooks by storm and involves posting a song to match a given prompt once a day for thirty days.

It should be a way to keep myself honest with blog updates and hopefully you guys will find it interesting. It won’t disrupt my normal posts either, so if you’re not interested then feel free to ignore all these. Some of the prompts are pretty personal, so let’s get vulnerable and shit.

[Day 1: Your Favourite Song]

Sufjan Stevens – Chicago (Acoustic Version)

Well I’m glad we’re starting with an easy one. Sufjan Steven’s Chicago has been my favourite song since the moment I first heard it, back in 2007. Whilst there has been a lot of movement in my preference for musical styles and bands in that time, this song has been one of the few constants.

To me this is as close to perfection as music can get. It is utterly sublime, completely enchanting, and simultaneously heart-breaking and uplifting. I’m still not entirely sure what the song itself is about, but it is somehow very adaptive, seemingly relating perfectly to whatever particular phase I’m going through in my personal life at any given time. As corny as it sounds, this song transcends meaning for me.

As for the Acoustic Version tag, I actually heard this version before the original version, and it has definitely stuck with me the most. I’m not a huge fan of the more daring arrangements of the song such as the tongue-in-cheek Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version, but this stripped back acoustic version is spot on.

I was lucky enough to hear this song live twice this year, and each time it was a euphoric, magical experience. In Melbourne the whole crowd was standing and dancing to the song, whilst Sufjan stood resolutely in center stage adorned with glow in the dark paint and surrounded by his brightly coloured bandmembers as balloons floated gently around the auditorium, occasionally to be pushed upwards by a wandering hand. Previously in Sydney, hearing the song live was such a powerful experience that it made me slightly teary for some reason.

Contact

I can be reached at andpluckyourstrings@gmail.com. I cannot get around to all the music that I am sent but I will do my best. All music posted here is designed to promote artists, however will of course be removed upon request.